Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The Girly Book Blog Hop

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Secondary Characters! We can love them or hate them, huh? I love these "back-up" characters when they do what I want them to and don't try to take over the book. Sometimes while writing, the character's personality is so bright and engaging, it's really hard to pull back the character back out of the spotlight.

And that is exactly what happened with Allison from Confessions.

While writing Chelsea's story, her sister, Allison, almost stole the show. Let me tell you... Allison is spunky. She is a loud mouth! She doesn't do well with taking no for an answer. She goes for what she wants and believes in.

So what did I do?

I yanked her by the hair out of Chelsea's spotlight in Confessions and dropped her right into the heroine spot in Midnight Secrets. She quickly became one of my favorite characters to write and she'll have many appearances in The Desert Secret Series books.

Here is a little peek at Allison Montgomery:

Ready to hit the Off button, she stopped when Chelsea’s voice filled the line.

“I thought you weren’t home.” Allison smiled, happy to be able to talk to her younger sister.

“I just got in. The kids were fighting while I tried getting the door unlocked.”

Allison could hear her niece and nephew bickering in the background. “If you had a cell, you wouldn’t have that problem. Even Jordan wants you to have one.”

“I don’t like them.” Chelsea sighed into the phone. “So what’s going on? It should be the lunch rush. Aren’t you busy?”

“Plumbing problems. We’re closed for the rest of the day.” Should she tell Chelsea about Miguel? She might as well, since there wasn’t any way she could keep it hidden for long anyway, not with the way the man made her feel. Plus, her sister would offer sound advice. “I met a guy.

He’s actually here right now.”

The clattering on the other end of the line sounded as if Chelsea had dropped the phone.

“What? You met a guy?”

“Yes. I’m having a shitty day.” She slid onto a stool at the counter and played with a lock

of her hair.

“Meeting a guy doesn’t make the day shitty, Alli.” Chelsea laughed. She muffled the phone

for a second as she yelled, “Elizabeth, take the makeup off your brother’s face right now.”

“It does for me. I don’t need a man.” She watched as Miguel walked past the front plateglass

window to his truck. The sight of him digging around in his truck made her stomach do a flip-flop. “But this man is gorgeous.”

“Do you want to be single forever? I mean, jeez. Don’t you want a father for your children?”

Father? Children? The words snapped her back to the real world. “Nope. I prefer to be

single.” She continued to watch as he fiddled around with something next to his truck. She didn’t

care about the details of the job, just that he stayed right there. He stood in her direct line of sight.

His silhouette was so strong, she couldn’t help but wonder what he would look like without any

clothes on.

“But you haven’t even had sex in--”

“Don’t remind me,” she interrupted. That was her problem. Maybe she just needed to have

some great, no-holds-barred sex and then it would be out of her system for another century.

Miguel stood up. He was tall, about six foot two. Turning back toward her, he waved when

he noticed her through the window. She smiled at him before he went back behind the building.

“So how did you meet this guy, anyway? There aren’t any eligible men in Wilson worthy of

being with my sister.” The sounds of running water and dishes rattling told her that Chelsea was

probably cleaning the kitchen.

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“Promise.” The garbage disposal almost drowned out what Chelsea had said.

“Chelsea!” Allison exclaimed.

The garbage disposal clicked off. “Yeah? I’m listening. Who is he?”

“Quit washing dishes! This is important.” Allison slid backward on the stool.

“That’s not the package I had in mind.” Allison thought about the way Miguel looked in his jeans. Even though the pants were slightly baggy, they still showed off the gift he had hidden underneath them, a package Allison wouldn’t be disappointed with for one second. Not that she had a lot of experience. Mitch had been less than thrilling, but she’d wanted to stay with the father of her children. What a joke.

“Is he date material? He could be what you need to tear down your walls.” Chelsea started

the vacuum cleaner.

“Chelsea!”

The vrooming noise shut off.

Allison crossed her arms over her chest. Walls? When had her sister turned into a therapist?

That was crazy. She simply didn’t want to be with a man. “I don’t have any walls up.”

“You most certainly do.” Chelsea sighed. “Promise me one thing.”

“Yeah?” Maybe she should’ve called her other sister, Danielle, about this unexpected

attraction to a man. She should’ve known what Chelsea’s response would be.

“If he asks you out on a date, I think you should go. You don’t have to fall in love or even

have sex with him. Just have fun.”

She uncrossed her arms. If she went on a date, then she wanted to make it worth her while

with some wonderful sex. “You think so? Just have fun?” Could she do it? Fun hadn’t been a word

in her dictionary for a long time now. Her life had been focused on raising two kids, her job, and

trying to save money to buy her own home so they could move out of her mother’s house. Now

that her last goal had almost been reached, she didn’t want anything to screw that up.

“Yes, you can. What’s his name anyway?” Chelsea flushed a toilet, then ran some water.

“It doesn’t matter, since you don’t get to meet him.” Her voice caught in her throat as he

approached the door with Joanie a few steps behind. “Here he comes. I gotta go.”

I love this dialog, and I double-love the details of Chelsea's multi-tasking, distracted side of the conversation. Allison is a good person, a caring mom, and a committed sister. Chelsea owes her more than this dialog shows, but that is EXCELLENT. You hooked me on a novel that's probably steamy as a windshield in a summer storm with solid detail and excellent style.

Allison sounds fantastic. I love that she stole your focus so much she ended up a heroine in her own right. Great solution! I can't wait to read the books. No need to enter me in the giveaway, I'm a fellow Hopper and want to give others the chance to win.

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About Wendy Ely

Wendy Ely lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her children and her own real life hero. She keeps busy editing manuscripts for authors, spending time with her family, and taking care of two cats. No matter what, Wendy believes in true love and happily ever after which she provides in her novels!